By Ballason
Gloria Mabeiam
Furthermore, good governance is anchored on a leadership that is committed to building sustainable institutions, with a credible framework of checks and balances, instead of making sacrificial lambs of those who dare to speak truth to power. Good governance is anchored on a leadership that appreciates the distinction between politics and governance and is not so myopic that it appreciates the national question primarily through the prism of religion, ethnicity, and primordial sentiments. Good governance is anchored on a leadership that is open, transparent and accountable to the people. Good governance is anchored on a leadership that is committed to a rights-based approach to governance. Good governance is anchored on a leadership that is committed to the enthronement of the rule of law in the polity.
Additionally, good governance is anchored on a leadership whose overriding consideration is the welfare and security of its people. Any government that abdicates this sacred obligation is deluding itself and precariously basking on a volcano. A government that is detached, aloof and insensitive to the welfare of its people has, therefore, lost its mission and focus.
Good governance is, therefore, anchored on a leadership that is appreciative of the fact that, as section 14(2)(a) of the Nigerian Constitution acknowledges, “sovereignty belongs to the people…from whom government…derives all its powers and authority.” A government that has neither a mandate nor an agenda anchored on the welfare of its people is like a rudderless ship that sails against tempestuous tides in a rocky terrain. The federal government and the governments of the central Nigerian States must resolve to definitively put an end to the culture of lawlessness and impunity that the crises which occasion mass population displacements to, within, and from, central Nigeria fester on.
Conventional discourse on Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) addresses nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The reality, however, is that Nigeria’s WMD are the manipulation and abuse of religion and ethnicity, corruption, poverty and disease. These, together, constitute the most significant cause of human-induced population displacement to, within, and from, central Nigeria.
In November 2013, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court determined that “since at least May 2013 allegations of crimes occurring in the context of the armed violence between Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces should be considered within the scope of article 8(2)(c) and (e) of the Statute.”
Article 8(1) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998, vests the court with “jurisdiction in respect of war crimes in particular when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes.” Paragraph (2)(a) defines war crimes with reference to grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention:
(i) Willful killing;
(ii) Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;
(iii) Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;
(iv) Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not
justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;
(v) Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to
serve in the forces of a hostile Power;
(vi) Wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of
the rights of fair and regular trial;
(vii) Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;
(viii) Taking of hostages.
Paragraph (2)(b) encapsulates within the definition of war crimes “[o]ther serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict, within the established framework of international law” and provides an extensive list of such acts. Paragraph 2(c) extends the definition of war crimes to “serious violations of article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949” committed in the course of “an armed conflict not of an international character”.
Under paragraph 2(e), the definition of war crimes embraces “other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflicts not of an international character, within the established framework of international law” and also provides an extensive list of such acts.
Given the horrendous nature of these crimes, the Rome Statute expresses consciousness of the fact that “all peoples are united by common bonds, their cultures pieced together in a shared heritage” and underscores the concern
“that this delicate mosaic may be shattered at any time”. Accordingly the statute proscribes war crimes and other heinous crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity, describing such crimes as “unimaginable atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity”; “grave crimes”; “the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole”; and expresses the resolve of the international community “for the sake of present and future generations” to “put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes”.
In furtherance of the imperative need to hold perpetrators of mass atrocity crimes accountable, the governments of central Nigeria must, in collaboration with the federal government, muster the political will to implement the reports of commissions of inquiry into various crises in the region without fear or favour, affection or ill will, in an open and transparent manner that inspires confidence in the system.
Given that most Nigerians profess to be either Christians or Muslims, it is imperative to underscore the necessity of sustained education and public enlightenment on the uses and abuses of religion, with a religion must view to, among other things, checkmating the manipulation of religion, especially by the elite, religious bigots, conflict entrepreneurs and misguided politicians. Religion is a matter of personal conviction. It is not a matter of compulsion. We must eschew and denounce the convoluted reasoning that religion can be decreed notwithstanding the fact that section 38 of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, guarantees freedom of religion, including the freedom to change one’s religion or belief.
Therefore, never be imposed or misconstrued as a licence for intolerance and deployed as an instrument of lawlessness. Nigerians should, practise their faiths in an atmosphere of mutual respect and tolerance. Regrettably, a few vocal elements have hijacked the religious space, radicalised and deployed it to unleash terror on an innocent majority.
It is imperative that the silent majority reclaims this space through constructive and productive engagement with religion. For instance, how can a community reading of the Koran, whose opening phrase and every chapter begins with “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful”, provide authority for the mayhem that some Muslims unleash on non-adherents of the Islamic faith in the name of jihad? How can a community reading of the Bible, which describes Jesus as “the Prince of Peace”, provide justification for the mayhem that some Christians unleash on non-adherents of the Christian faith?
Playing politics with an issue as sensitive as security is akin to a ticking time bomb. It often explodes, occasions monumental loss of lives and properties and further destabilises the polity. Therefore,
all stakeholders in the Nigerian Project must avoid actions that pander towards short-term political expedience and should, instead, focus on working towards bequeathing a worthy legacy to the next generation.
One major challenge in the course of preparing this Lecture was the dearth of reliable and current data. This distorts planning and imperils policy formulation in a constructive and productive manner. There is, therefore, the imperative need to invest in policy-driven research, ensure optimal utilization of the resources and further hold relevant government agencies with responsibility for research and documentation on the population dynamics of central Nigeria accountable.
From “End of Discussion” to “Discussion Continues”: So You Want To Live Forever?
Given the context of this Lecture, it is apposite to conclude with the didactic story of the encounter between a rich young man and the Greek god Zeus.
A rich young man, so the story goes, approached Zeus, seeking to know what it would take for him to live forever. Zeus told him to go and sell everything he had, give the money to the less privileged, after which he would be told how to live forever.
Unlike the rich young man about whom Jesus remarked that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” , the rich young man in this story complied with Zeus’ instructions. When the rich young man returned to inquire how he would live forever, Zeus responded in words to the following effect: “To live forever is to live in the loving hearts and on the grateful lips of those whose lives you’ve impacted positively.”
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, so you want to live forever? What’s your story?